RISE OF THE PODCASTS AND BEDROOM PRODUCERS

Expect a spike in DIY podcasts, bedroom producer recordings like FINNEAS and Billie Eilish, and anything else that can be done alone in self-isolation, while the outside world pauses to (hopefully) practice social distancing. With little more than a laptop, a microphone, and possibly a MIDI controller, today’s crop of self-taught producers work nimbly and can churn out new ideas quickly to reflect our changing times.

Speaking of FINNEAS, he and girlfriend Claudia Sulewski just launched their We Bought a House podcast on 3/23. It's on Spotify for now, with a new episode every Monday, and will be on Apple Podcasts and other platforms soon.

We are also hearing about many virtual sessions taking place, via FaceTime, Zoom and other collaborative tools such as the RMusik app, in which songwriters, producers and artists are meeting up online to create new music. We’re told that publishers, traditionally tasked with setting up co-writes in studios, have pivoted to focus solely on coordinating online pairings, sometimes chosen on a whim like speed-dating or a sort of "co-write roulette," and if it works it works, if it doesn't then on to the next one.

If there's a silver lining to our current predicament, it's that there should be a lot of new music in pipeline very soon as a result.